cheron98

ddeuddeg wrote:I thought W-2s were required to be mailed by 1/31. I didn't know your condo was in such a black hole, mail-wise. Maybe that's why it's not selling more easily.

Oh it was exciting. Our W-2s WERE all mailed by 1/31. Allegedly. See, but I had 2 coming because we had switched payroll providers mid-year. So I received one of them on 1/31, but it was wrong (everyone's was wrong). So we contacted HR and they said "oops, my bad" and they fixed them and re-mailed them and we received them on Tuesday. But we still hadn't received the OTHER one from the previous payroll provider. So HR called them and threatened fire and brimstone (for fear of US all calling the IRS to have fire and brimstone rained down on them) and got them reprinted and mailed to our HR department, who then manually distributed them yesterday. When there is an error on a W-2, they have until the 15th to get a correct one to you. And the IRS doesn't want to hear from you prior to the 15th anyway about missing W-2s.

HitAnyKey42

So we're almost completely set with regards to flights. cheron's flight is fully booked and I've gotten my flight to Cali booked. Need to wait until next month when I get a couple thousand more Rapid Rewards points added to my account before I can book my return flight. But I'm at least set for getting there. I'll worry about getting home later. LOL

Anyways, we'll both be arriving on the same plane (as we both change planes at MDW) at OAK at 3:40pm on Tues 7/24.
I know it's only Feb, but I'm getting PUMPED for this trip!

MarkDaSpark

tiger7610 wrote:I'm interested, I guess I have to contact instructor (not sure what/why, but will pm RPM). I really doubt I can take off a full week from work, so I guess I'm just going to go with the newbie tour.

Guess RPM has been too busy to notice the overlap and update the list. I was going to say that puts Mother in ... except I think he posted he was busy the 23rd to the 25th.

Mother, is that still the case?

x20

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

bahwm

HitAnyKey42 wrote:So we're almost completely set with regards to flights. cheron's flight is fully booked and I've gotten my flight to Cali booked. Need to wait until next month when I get a couple thousand more Rapid Rewards points added to my account before I can book my return flight. But I'm at least set for getting there. I'll worry about getting home later. LOL

Anyways, we'll both be arriving on the same plane (as we both change planes at MDW) at OAK at 3:40pm on Tues 7/24.
I know it's only Feb, but I'm getting PUMPED for this trip!

Don't forget to keep checking with Southwest in case the rates go down. Even if you used points, you can get them refunded and rebook at a lower rate. I managed last week to save about $50 on our car rental in Milwaukee. Rates out there are ridiculous! I will keep looking though.

May our love be like good wine, grow stronger as it grows older. ~ Old English Toast

cheron98

bahwm wrote:Don't forget to keep checking with Southwest in case the rates go down. Even if you used points, you can get them refunded and rebook at a lower rate. I managed last week to save about $50 on our car rental in Milwaukee. Rates out there are ridiculous! I will keep looking though.

Since I convinced him to fly out of LGA, he actually might have a chance of rates dropping and being able to swap out the points

klezman

jmdavidson wrote:Anything new to report on 1) how much the deposits will be and when they are due and 2) what hotel we should make reservations at?

Relax...they're working as fast as they can, and will certainly not delay in letting us know. Dates are set - you can safely book your flights. The hotel group rate is there so that a) we get a decent deal, and b) you don't need to worry about super advance booking.

I feel that at times this thread gets perilously close to taking rpm/woop/WD's efforts for granted. Remember that rpm and woop do this in their scant spare time.

rpm

klezman wrote:Relax...they're working as fast as they can, and will certainly not delay in letting us know. Dates are set - you can safely book your flights. The hotel group rate is there so that a) we get a decent deal, and b) you don't need to worry about super advance booking.

I feel that at times this thread gets perilously close to taking rpm/woop/WD's efforts for granted. Remember that rpm and woop do this in their scant spare time.

Thank you.

Patience grasshoppers! Get you checkbooks out, hotel and deposit information should be posted in a day or so.

woopdedoo

The tour hotel is again going to be the Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn – right near Sonoma square. We have a rooms reserved for Sunday-Thursday. They are double queen rooms and the rate is $169.00 per night. The Friday night rate for those who want to stay over is $219.00. Before I get any grief, let me assure you that this is their best group rate. It is POSSIBLE that someone will get a special rate on a room via some last minute deal. The rooms are under a group Woot Wine Tour.

We have an overlap night on Tuesday evening, for those arriving for the second tour.

We will be having our pre-tour reception on Sunday early evening in the Krug Event center.

Also, we have decided on a slightly larger vehicle this year as it affords us more storage space for wine purchases along the way. As such, we can accommodate 30 tourists for each tour – exclusive of rpm and me.

To be fair to everyone who would like to go, and to hopefully reduce the likelihood of last minute cancellations, we are going to be collecting a $250.00 per person deposit, due to me (and made out to me) by March 5.

The total trip cost will be around $650.00 (exclusive of hotel and airfare) – likely a bit less. The first year I handed back cash to everyone on the last day. The second tour, I had to collect cash from everyone, due to last minute cancellations.

Once the list is sorted out for both tours, you will know where and to whom to send your deposit.

Still early on most of the details for the days. Stay tuned. Here is the info for the hotel:

Best Western
SONOMA VALLEY INN
550 Second St. West
Sonoma, CA 95476
Ph: 800-334-5784

Itwdswafo

woopdedoo wrote:Also, we have decided on a slightly larger vehicle this year as it affords us more storage space for wine purchases along the way. As such, we can accommodate 30 tourists for each tour – exclusive of rpm and me.

MarkDaSpark

Can any of the veterans offer advice about the best airport to fly into? Also, is it better to rent a car or take a cab?

Thanks for any insight, this will give me something to think about while I wait to see if my number comes up.

Cab would be too expensive. However, you could always see if anyone else flying in would carpool with you. Several people did that the first tour. Usually they flew into the same airport.

As to airports, there's San Francisco (SFO), San Jose (SJC), and Oakland (OAK) airports, with Oakland being closest, followed by SFO and then SJC.

You could also see about Sacramento (SAC), but it's a longer drive. You could see the state historical sites there.

x20

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

MarkDaSpark

Also, I held out as long as I could, but I've become a proponent of PayPal, so perhaps Woop & RPM could use that for payments?

x20

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

wkdpanda

Last trip, we had four of us fly in near the same time to SFO, and then we had a shared vanpool up to Sonoma. Don't remember the cost, but was reasonable. The round trip cost was much cheaper than renting a car for the whole trip.

What are the plans in the evenings? I know the preference would be to stay together, but the Lodge at Sonoma is about a mile from the SVI and I would be able to use my marriott points and gift cards there which would allow more $$ for wine...

gregorylane

With more regret than you can imagine, All 3 of us are going to back out. For those that agree with me, November can't come quickly enough. To those that take our place...have a great time. You know you will. Deb and I will miss seeing you all again, and maybe in 2 years we will be ready, willing and able to join you.

We are pulling out early, so that our replacements can make their arrangements.

There is really no point in trying to explain liberty to people who don't understand what it means.
rpm-2012

rpm

gregorylane wrote:With more regret than you can imagine, All 3 of us are going to back out. For those that agree with me, November can't come quickly enough. To those that take our place...have a great time. You know you will. Deb and I will miss seeing you all again, and maybe in 2 years we will be ready, willing and able to join you.

We are pulling out early, so that our replacements can make their arrangements.

What are the plans in the evenings? I know the preference would be to stay together, but the Lodge at Sonoma is about a mile from the SVI and I would be able to use my marriott points and gift cards there which would allow more $$ for wine...

On the first 2 tours, evening plans varied, but if you were staying abut a mile away, and could manage transportation to and from, all you'd have to do is make sure you're there in the AM to begin the day. I'm sure that at the end of the day's touring, dinner, etc., if you want to hang out with the rest of the group, or part of the rest of the group, at the SVI or wherever, there should be no problem with that.

Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions. Sometimes the special occasion is that you've got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge. - Hester Browne
Filmmaker/winemaker Francis Ford Coppola says his two professions are almost the same and that each depends on source material and takes a lot of time to perfect.
The big difference: "Today's winemakers still worry about quality."

What are the plans in the evenings? I know the preference would be to stay together, but the Lodge at Sonoma is about a mile from the SVI and I would be able to use my marriott points and gift cards there which would allow more $$ for wine...

That seems like a reasonable rate and is the same from/to SFO. Does the Best Western provide a shuttle to the Sonoma airport?

ddeuddeg

Always keep a bottle of Champagne in the fridge for special occasions. Sometimes the special occasion is that you've got a bottle of Champagne in the fridge. - Hester Browne
Filmmaker/winemaker Francis Ford Coppola says his two professions are almost the same and that each depends on source material and takes a lot of time to perfect.
The big difference: "Today's winemakers still worry about quality."

The tour hotel is again going to be the Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn – right near Sonoma square. We have a rooms reserved for Sunday-Thursday. They are double queen rooms and the rate is $169.00 per night. The Friday night rate for those who want to stay over is $219.00. Before I get any grief, let me assure you that this is their best group rate. It is POSSIBLE that someone will get a special rate on a room via some last minute deal. The rooms are under a group Woot Wine Tour.

We have an overlap night on Tuesday evening, for those arriving for the second tour.

We will be having our pre-tour reception on Sunday early evening in the Krug Event center.

Also, we have decided on a slightly larger vehicle this year as it affords us more storage space for wine purchases along the way. As such, we can accommodate 30 tourists for each tour – exclusive of rpm and me.

To be fair to everyone who would like to go, and to hopefully reduce the likelihood of last minute cancellations, we are going to be collecting a $250.00 per person deposit, due to me (and made out to me) by March 5.

The total trip cost will be around $650.00 (exclusive of hotel and airfare) – likely a bit less. The first year I handed back cash to everyone on the last day. The second tour, I had to collect cash from everyone, due to last minute cancellations.

Once the list is sorted out for both tours, you will know where and to whom to send your deposit.

Still early on most of the details for the days. Stay tuned. Here is the info for the hotel:

Best Western
SONOMA VALLEY INN
550 Second St. West
Sonoma, CA 95476
Ph: 800-334-5784

redwinefan

chipgreen wrote:redwinefan also expressed a possible interest in joining both tours. (pg.2 of this thread).

Yes, if this is a possibility, I would like to be added to the list, but I have to do all my calendar checking this week to make sure this is doable on my end. My +1 would probably only be in for Tour #1.

"You need to invest in a corkscrew. Wine is for drinking." -- Peter Wellington

What are the plans in the evenings? I know the preference would be to stay together, but the Lodge at Sonoma is about a mile from the SVI and I would be able to use my marriott points and gift cards there which would allow more $$ for wine...

Well, if the SVI is indeed booked, then I'll look into the Lodge. And since I will be driving up, I can drive you both over to SVI.

Edit: Err, nevermind. Forgot you two were in the Newbie group. Although ... I might drive up on Monday so I can visit some wineries on Tuesday before the Oldie Tour starts.

x20

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

rpm

ddeuddeg wrote:On the first 2 tours, evening plans varied, but if you were staying abut a mile away, and could manage transportation to and from, all you'd have to do is make sure you're there in the AM to begin the day. I'm sure that at the end of the day's touring, dinner, etc., if you want to hang out with the rest of the group, or part of the rest of the group, at the SVI or wherever, there should be no problem with that.

It's obviously up to you, but:

1. You will be responsible to get to the SVI each morning in time for our departure (which is usually around 8 am, but may be earlier on the first day) - the bus will not stop elsewhere. Unless you rented a car (and where would you park it all day), you would be taking a taxi (I don't know the cost or availability in Sonoma - you should check that out before making a decision) or expecting someone else to get up even earlier to go pick you up and bring you back.

2. Similarly, after the day's festivities, you will be responsible to get back to wherever you are staying. The same transport issues apply here as above, but also adds includes driving after having had a fair amount of wine during the day. Whether that's you or whomever you're expecting to drive you back and then come back themselves. Driving under the influence is a bad idea in any event, a worse one when you are in an unfamiliar area.

3. If the group is going to dinner from the SVI, you will be responsible to get to the SVI and to get back to you lodging from the SVI afterward. After dinner, I suspect the only way back to your lodging would be a taxi (cost? availability? at night?) since you and most everyone else will have had wine with dinner.

I know almost everyone would like to save a few $$ on the hotel - recession or no, prices always seem to go up. The SVI worked well last Tour and is very conveniently located to downtown Sonoma - you can walk to the square with restaurants and shops -- which enables us to release the bus earlier when we have dinner in downtown Sonoma. Since we pay for the bus by the hour, not having the bus for the whole evening reduces the cost to everyone.

klezman

gregorylane wrote:With more regret than you can imagine, All 3 of us are going to back out. For those that agree with me, November can't come quickly enough. To those that take our place...have a great time. You know you will. Deb and I will miss seeing you all again, and maybe in 2 years we will be ready, willing and able to join you.

We are pulling out early, so that our replacements can make their arrangements.

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